The A/SF-01 B-wing heavy fast attack starfighter, known simply as the B-wing starfighter, was one of the largest and most heavily armed starfighters/bombers in the Rebel Alliance's fleet. The name B-wing came from the craft's appearance to a "B", when upright, the outline of the upper half and the lower half makes a B shape, although its swordlike shape in attack mode has earned it the nickname "Blade-wing", which may be another reason for the "B" prefix.

Somewhat reminiscent of the H-60 Tempest bomber, and using a wing configuration similar to Slayn & Korpil's earlier V-19 Torrent starfighter,[source?] the A/SF-01 B-wing assault starfighter had a somewhat ungainly appearance resembling a top-heavy cross when fully unfurled. The primary airfoil took up the length of the hull, with the cockpit at one end and a weapons pod at the other end. Two S-foils amidships on either side of the airfoil also held weapons.[13] In addition, the B-wing's main body was essentially a single long wing with a pair of folding S-foils. Its primary role was an attack vessel targeting the Empire's capital ships, although it also did escort duty for X- and Y-wing fighter squadrons and Alliance convoys, and were also able to be deployed for assaults on space-based or planetary Imperial facilities.[14]

The B-wing was a highly adaptable design, with modular hardpoints and other components. Its weapons could be reconfigured more easily than many other Alliance fighters. The B-wing also had a unique gyroscopic rotating cockpit module which was independently stabilized to allow the pilot to coordinate advanced flight and attack maneuvers. The fighter was powered by either of two engine systems: a QuadexKryomaster engine with four thrust ports, or four Slayn & Korpil JZ-5 Fusial Thrust Engines.[8] The Quadex core was the same version carried on-board CECYT-1300 light freighters. The rotating airfoil allowed the B-wing to be placed vertical in launch racks,[15] although it was also capable of landing horizontally.[11]

The B-wing was designed to replace the aging BTL Y-wing starfighter in the heavy assault role against capital ships, as it had the advantage of more weaponry and stronger shields. However, the B-wing had several weaknesses, notably being difficult to fly and lacking speed and agility, affecting its dogfighting capability. Its large hull furthermore made it an easier target and it also had less armor protection. Consequently, it did not fully replace the Y-wing in the assault starfighter role until the New Republic was well established.[source?] The B-wing was also expensive to manufacture.[15]

The cockpit module of a B-wing showing the groove allowing for rotation

In particular, the rotating hull system made the B-wing a challenge to master. It also made the ship abnormally delicate; too many sharp turns could cause extreme strain to the spaceframe, and the cockpit rotation system could get stuck in one position. Only a few pilots were qualified to fly the ship before the Battle of Endor, resulting in a smaller number of B-wings present than expected. These difficulties forced the Rebel Alliance to invest in an upgraded Y-wing, rather than an entirely new ship, to fulfill their needs. In addition, the gyro-mechanisms for the fighter were prone to in-flight failure, causing the fighters to end up "frozen" into position, thus leading to maneuvering problems. Another problem is that their parked position had all three of its "wings" being locked into position as well as sitting on the lower wing, making access to the central area awkward, and thus maintenance servicing of the overall craft difficult.[14]

Its weapons systems included three wing-tip ion-cannons, a heavy laser cannon with a low-power targeting laser, twin auto blasters with a low-power targeting laser, a mount for additional weapons consisting of an additional auto-blaster, laser or ion cannon, and two proton torpedo launcher magazines, one that carried four torpedoes on the lower wing launcher and a secondary torpedo launcher magazine just below the cockpit area.[14]

Like its predecessor, the Y-wing, the cockpit could be detached from the rest of the ship, but unlike the Y-wing, the B-wing's cockpit could be ejected into space and support atmospheric re-entry.[16]

The B-wing would go on to participate in many battles throughout the Galactic Civil War, and would lend design elements to other vessels. Sometime after the Battle of Hoth, the hull of a wrecked B-wing was used as the design prototype for the AHS-1 heavy assault airspeeder, and later models followed the same general design. In addition, several B-wings after the Battle of Endor were also modified to include flame-retardant projectors by Alliance technicians so the craft could be used for fire-fighting purposes.[14]

A typical tactic for B-wing squadrons on attack missions was to utilize dense formations as a means of increasing concentrated firepower on targets. This tactic also has the added benefit of overwhelming most deflector shields.

The B-wing/E starfighter, or B-wing Expanded, was a modification to the original Slayn & Korpil B-wing design. The B-wing Expanded had an elongated cockpit that allowed a gunner to assist the pilot on missions. This allowed the pilot to concentrate on piloting, and resulted in the B-wing accounting for an increased number of kills in battle. It was faster and tougher than the original B-wing, but was somewhat less maneuverable. There were two models of B-wing/E—the first was simply a military ship, while the second generation (known as the B-wing/E2) was designed as a personal military shuttle.[source?] Ackbar used one of these E2-designs as his own shuttle, which he was forced to crash on the planet Vortex after it had been tampered with by Terpfen.[17]

"One of the Rebellion's most well-armed starfighters, the B-wing has been personally designed by Admiral Ackbar. The B-wing supports an array of weapons including ion cannons, proton torpedo launchers, and laser cannons."

The B-wing was originally designed with a unique fire-control system which fires low-power lasers at a target to give the computer range and vector information for the torpedoes and ion cannons.[source?] While its strong deflector shields and great firepower allowed it to be somewhat survivable in fighter engagements, it usually required an escort on the way in. However, with the firepower of many naval corvettes, it fulfilled its purpose as a dangerous foe against many light capital ships.

The development of the B-wing began shortly after the Battle of Yavin. The small-unit starfighter tactics of the Rebellion were having a greater effect on the forces of the Imperial Navy than many Imperial commanders thought possible. As a response to this threat, the Empire began to produce and deploy more capital ships with a primary role of anti-starfighter defense. The primary vessel used for this strategy was the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate, a starship with which the Alliance was already quite familiar.

The Rebels couldn't afford to field the kind of overwhelming space forces that the Empire could bring to bear in fleet engagements. The Alliance's primary assault fighters, the outdated Y-wings, took large losses in capital ship assaults. A new tactic was needed if the Rebel Alliance Fleet was to continue having any impact on the galaxy.

Fortunately, one advantage the Rebels had over the Empire was their people. Approximately a year before the Battle of Yavin, the Rebels executed a raid on an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle carrying Wilhuff Tarkin and Bevel Lemelisk near Eriadu. The Alliance rescued the renowned Mon Calamari tactician Ackbar, in a military operation the Empire might not have bothered to commit for one of their own personnel.[19] As a commander in the Alliance Fleet, Ackbar revolutionized the strategy and tactics of the Alliance.

Ackbar knew that the only solution to the Empire's new convoy defense plan was to either use equally powerful starships, which the Alliance could not afford to waste, or to create a starfighter especially for this purpose. Alliance High Command agreed, and placed Ackbar in charge of Project Shantipole. Ackbar went to the Roche system and enlisted the aid of the Verpine colonies of Slayn & Korpil.

Working under Ackbar's direction, Slayn & Korpil produced the first prototypes of the B-wing starfighter in the Roche asteroid field. They were delivered to the Alliance despite Imperial interference. Imperial District Commander Bane Nothos was aware of the project, and decided to allow development to proceed so he could capture the fighters for the Empire. The Empire's efforts to capture the blueprints of the B-wing were actually foiled by the first combat flight of the original prototypes.[source?] A squadron of these prototypes was quickly put into service and christened Dagger Squadron.[10]

B-wings flee from an exploding Star Destroyer during the Battle of Endor.

Despite its limited numbers at the time, it was a key Rebel craft in the Battle of Endor, where a squad of these fighters took down two Imperial-class Star Destroyers.[15] After the battle, the B-wing's modular design allowed it to be retrofitted with sprayers for firefighting duty on Endor, to extinguish the fires caused by the falling debris.[21]

B-wing squadrons were present at the Battle of Almania,[26] the Battle of Adumar,[27] and in the defense of Mon Calamari during the attack on Mon Calamari.[17] Luke Skywalker flew a B-wing into Nam Chorios.[28] As it was designed by Admiral Ackbar, Ackbar and Terpfen used expanded versions as their personal shuttles and other Mon Calamari flew the starfighter. Furthermore, there was a squadron present when Admiral Daala attacked Dac,[17] and a Mon Calamari pilot flew a B-wing as part of the Second Battle of Borleias.[29][30] Another group besides the New Republic noted for its use of the B-wing was the Verpine, who preferred to use the craft in high-speed bombing runs if defending their territory was necessary.[31]

The B-Wing fighter was designed by Joe Johnston and Bill George. The craft derives its name from the fact that the crew labeled the two new Rebel starfighter models in Return of the Jedi as "A fighter" and "B fighter". While the A-wing looks similar to a capital A, the B-wing, on first glance, does not resemble its namesake. However, when viewed upon from a certain angle, it looks like a lowercase b. Bill George had so much input into the starship's development, that his colleagues nicknamed it the "Bill-Wing Fighter". [37]

Star Wars: The Blueprints states that no B-wing cockpit set was ever built for filming pilot footage; however, it contains a drawing of a B-wing cockpit mislabelled as an A-wing cockpit, possibly indicating that the B-wing cockpit was indeed built and filmed for Return of the Jedi.

The craft's unusually thin shape was problematic for blue-screen photography; the model tended to blend into the starfield. As a consequence, some planned sequences with the B-wing were cut from the original release of Return of the Jedi, and the B-wing is not explicitly shown in action during the Battle of Endor in the film. In fact, after the ships fly away from the still-active Death Star II shield at the start of the battle, the B-wing is hardly seen at all. The rotating cockpit design of the B-wing was based on early concept art for the Millennium Falcon.[18]

In 2000, LEGO released a set titled "B-wing at Rebel Control Center" which included a B-wing and a rebel command center with B-wing pilot, Rebel mechanic, and R5-D4 minifigures. LEGO released another set in 2006 titled "B-wing Fighter", which included an improved B-wing model, a display stand, and two minifigures: Ten-Numb and a Rebel pilot. In 2012, LEGO released an ultimate collector series edition called "B-wing" that included a bigger, non-minifigure display model of the ship, a stand with name plaque and no minifigures. In 2014, another minifigure scaled B-wing (#75050, B-wing) was released with 3 minifigs: Ten-numb, General Airen Cracken and Gray Squadron Pilot.